Does anyone have a problem with their LP gas detector going off. Mine goes off all the time and I have never smelled any gas. I was under the kitchen slide out spraying some extend (rust treatment) and it went off. I have it unpluged now but we are getting into cold weather now and I would like to leave the gas on all night so I can run the furnace, but I am scared. Any ideas?

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Pete,
More than likely, it was the propellant from the spray you were using. Aerosols (hair spray is notorious) are prone to setting them off. Also depending on age of detector, low battery (including house) and age itself. Five years is about normal life for a detector.

The spray was just that one time. I didn't know it would wear out in 5 years. It goes off all the time but if I turn the gas off it will not go off so it is picking up something. I just thinking it may too sensitive.

I agree, I was hoping it was just too sensitive, a guy told me he could open a bottle of booz and his would go off. There is a panel under the pantry that says "lp gas connection inside", I looked and I can see a connection way down in there. Looks like the refrigerator would have to come out and a wall removed to get to it!! I think I can put some soapy water in a water gun and shoot it, but I can't see much of it. I am going to check the refrigerator and hot water heater. The detector is across from the pantry.

Buy an LP sniffer instead of the soap and water trick - much easier for those hard to reach places. If you get a positive sniff, THEN you can go to the work to get access to the area and re-test with soap and water to isolate the leak.

Thaks for all the info. I will get a detector. I love Harbor Freight, didn't know they had them. I did the soap and water thing yesterday. Checked everything I could get to (but the rear furnace) and will do that today. Thanks again.

I also had a problem with mine going off erratically. Spoke to the nice folks at the detector factory,and they said that the normal failure mode is over sensitivity. in your case, however, if it stops when you turn off the LPG, it does sound like a problem. Remember that lpg puddles under a leak - it's heaverier than air. You might drive it over to a plumbing house and ask them to sniff it out and repair it. Your local fire department very likely has a super good detector, too.

I, too, have a detector that gose off irradically. I took the RV to "Camping World" and they told me that I didn't have any leaks, but that the detector was bad (installed in 2004-5). They sald I would have to replace it. So I ordered a new one. I waiting now, for the new one to arrive.

I had a weird situation 2 years ago where mine went off. I had the water heater on, running on lp intead of electric. After about 15 minutes the lp detector went off. I turned the water heater off and opened door and windows. I checked everything I could think of, but found nothing. However, I could smell gas fumes inside of the cabinet right above the water heater. My washer/dryer is in there. I checked outside to see if the seal around the water heater had seperated from the side of the coach, allowing fumes to get back into the coach. It had not, and was fine. Four hrs later, I turned it back on. It went off again. This time I located the problem.

My water heater sits on the floor. Above it is the washer/dryer. On the outside of the coach the exhaust on the water heater is directly below the dryer vent about 4 feet. My dryer vent is the type that has 3 or 4 little flapping louvers. One of the louvers was stuck open and the exhaust from the water heater was rising up the side of the coach and entering the dryer vent. Apparently, somehow inside the dryer if was drafting back into the coach. I always leave the dryer door partially open because it's also the washer. I want to let any moisture evaporate out of the drum so I don't get mildew. After closing the louver, I didn't have any more problems. Now, anytime I run the water heater on lp, I check the outside dryer vent louvers to make sure they are closed completely.

Some of the older models had a tendency to go off at odd times. We finally replaced our 2004-era detector last year after the zillionth false alarm. With the new one, we haven't had a single false alarm. I've heard similar stories from many RVers. Best of luck.